TAMPA – Jim Fassel describes it as “a call that tore my guts out.” It came during the opening game of the 1999 season when the Giants where clinging to a 17-13 lead over the Bucs in the stadium where Super Bowl XXXV will be played. Locked in a defensive struggle with about two minutes remaining, the Giants faced a third-and-eight situation.

The first instincts of Fassel, the former quarterback and long-time offensive assistant coach, was to throw the ball. But he was a head coach now, so his head had to overrule his heart.

“If we make a first down, the game is over,” Fassel said yesterday at the final media session for players before Sunday’s game. “But we hadn’t been able to do much [offensively]. So on third-and-eight, I called a run right at them to make them use their last timeout so that when we punted they’d have no timeouts and had to go for a touchdown.

“That was our best opportunity to win that game. It wasn’t about being cute and maybe throwing an [interception] on our own 20-yard line.”

The offensive guru would have thrown the ball, but Fassel has always known his ultimate legacy with the Giants would be the job he did as a head coach. The evolution hasn’t been easy. He went through Dave Brown, Danny Kanell and Kent Graham before stabilizing the quarterback position with the acquisition of Kerry Collins, and took plenty of criticism for the offense’s lack of production since 1997.

Ultimately, it took nearly three seasons before Fassel would relinquish the play-calling duties to Sean Payton and ultimately name him the offensive coordinator before the start of this season.

For Fassel, the label of being an “offensive guru,” might have helped land him the Giants coaching job, but it was a tag that became irritating as he focused on the big-picture of improving the team in all phases: offense, defense and special teams.

“There were things we needed to change and one was to get a quarterback that would give us some consistency,” Fassel said. “All the quarterbacks that played here had their best seasons here whether it was Dave Brown or Danny Kanell or Kent Graham.

“But we needed to get some weapons outside. We needed to get some guys who could play and make things happen. I can draw up plays real good, but it’s more about the players than the plays.”

The development of Payton from a quarterbacks coach hired in February, 1999, to an imaginative coordinator has helped Fassel end the offensive guru references.

Payton, 37, began calling the plays in November of last season when Fassel went to California to attend the death of his mother. The Giants beat the Jets 41-28 that week and Payton called the plays for the remainder of the season.

“I needed that evolution to happen,” Fassel said. “When I [promoted Payton] the owners wanted to make sure I wasn’t walking away from the offense. I told them I’d keep my eye on it. But I liked the way [Payton] handled things. He had a great mind. I thought he was ready.”

Fassel admits being the head coach and calling plays was too much to handle.

“The way it was my first year here, I wouldn’t have lasted,” he said. “I would have killed myself and everybody else around me.”

He pointed out that Mike Shanahan no longer calls the bulk of the Broncos plays. And Brian Billick of the Ravens has relinquished much of those duties as well.

“There’s just so much to do in today’s game with all the egos and the salaries and the organization and the media,” Fassel said. “If I can’t find a guy to have total concentration on something, then something’s wrong. I should be able to find a guy like that. I’ve got to manage the game, the whole operation. It’s a bigger scope.”

From all indications, he has trusted Payton to call the game, offering input only when he feels necessary.

“He has been very supportive about the calls we make and he has been supportive about the direction we’re headed,” Payton said. “He’s done a great job of giving us everything we need.”

It also has made Fassel a better head coach. Part of the reason the Giants reached Super Bowl XXXV is they are void of the internal problems that plagued them the last two seasons when the defense was critical of the offense. Fassel mended his sometimes stormy relationship with linebacker Jessie Armstead and worked the locker room with a more personal touch.

“It’s great now that he’s not the offensive coordinator and calling all the plays,” defensive end Michael Strahan said. “It’s an opportunity for the entire team to get to know him and to understand what he’s trying to do. I think that’s been one of the biggest reasons we’ve had success. Guys know him now and they’re going to fight for him.”

The are good coordinators on both sides of the ball who have struggled to make the transition to head coach. Pete Carroll, Ray Rhodes, Bill Belichick, just to name a few. But Super Bowl XXXV is proof it takes more than knowing one phase of the game to lead a team to a championship.

Billick is considered an offensive guru, too, but got to Tampa on the strength of one of the best defenses ever assembled. Fassel got to here after letting someone else call the plays.